String-bean cutter.



Z. P. TOWNSEND.

STRING BEAN GUTTER.

APPLIOATION FILED 00T. 5, 1905..

Patente June 2,2, 1909.

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Patented June 22, 1909.

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UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

ZACHARIAH P. TOWN SEND, OF SAUQUOIT, NEW YORK.

STRING-BEAN CUTTER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ZAcHARIAr-r P. TOWN- SEND, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Sauquoit, in the county of Oneida and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in String- BeanCutters, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to an improved vegetable cutting machine, and Ideclare that the following is a full, clear, concise and exactdescription thereof, sufficient to enable one skilled in the art to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings inwhich like letters and numerals refer to like parts throughout.

My invention comprises several features which I have illustrated in oneform in the accompanying drawings, the particulars of which will beunderstood by an examination of the same in conjunction with thedescription thereof. It is comprised in this instance, of a hopper withmeans for feeding material therefrom to rotary cutting knives whichembody new features and whichare so arranged and operated as to regulatethe size into which the material is to be cut, it being fed to theknives through sluiceways arranged on a frame which is given areciprocating motion for facilitating the feed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front view of the machine; Fig. 2 is aside view, with one of the legs cut away to show part of the mechanism;Fig. 3 is a plan view from the top with a portion cut away, and Fig. Iis a plan view from the top, with the superstructure removed, as also anapron depending thereover. Fig. 5 is a side view; Fig. 6 is a front viewof the knife member; Fig. 7 is a cross-section view of the same, andFig. 8 is a perspective view of vone of the blades. Fig. 9 is aperspective view of the chute.

Referring to the igures more in detail, A are legs which support shelf Band the hopper C, which several parts are arranged in suitable mannerand are given suitable size.

In the frame is mounted shaft D operated by pulleys D. The shaft Dcarries at its inner end a pinion l which meshes with pinion 2 mountedon the end of the shaft D. The shaft D is journaled in side frames Grwhich are mounted on the shaft B. The shaft D is mounted in a slot s,shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The spring s bears between the shafts Dand D so as to hold Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 5, 1905.

. Patented June 22, 1909.-

Serial N0. 281,395.

the latter and its bearing upward against the set screw s, by whichmeans the shaft D is adjusted to present the edge of its blades onto thesurface of a rubber or other like roller H which is mounted on the shaftD.

The shaft D ca-rries the knife or cutting member which comprises twodisks E centrally bored to be mounted on the shaft by set screw c, andthe opposite faces of which have corresponding radial grooves into whichthe ends of the blades F fit, so that the disks E may be broughttogether with the blades F therebetween and be secured to the shaft D.This construction provides a revolving cutting member with a series ofblades positioned according to the radial grooves in the disks. Theblades are formed with an angle f at the edge which rests on the shaft,and which gives each blade strength and rigidity so that in therevolutionof the cutting member when the edge of the blade strikes thesubstance to be cut it is not bent out of place, but maintains a lstraight cutting edge. The angle portion of each blade may be formed ofsuch size that the angle of one blade will rest against the innerextreme edge of the adjacent blade, as indicated in Fig. 7. In case ofneed, any blade may be readily replaced by loosening one of the disks;or, the series may be readily removed for sharpening.- As the blades areof equal width and length they are interchangeable, so that injury toone blade of the cutting member need not delay the operation of themachine.

On the end of the shaft D is pulley 3 from which a belt runs to pulley lwhich is mounted on the shaft d which is supported in the frame portionG, and over which cover portion G is to be placed to inclose the cuttingmembers.

The shaft CZ is provided with an eccentric (see Fig. 5) which eccentricoperates a pitman el which is connected to chute I which is hingedlymounted on the frame at z', so that the revolution of the shaft d throwsthe lower end of the chute up and down so as to assist in the passing ofmaterial from the hopper to the blades. The chute member I is indicatedin perspective in Fig. 9, and comprises a number of vertically arrangedpartition members formed in this instance of thin metal, and whichpartitions serve to divide said chute into a plurality of longitudinallyextending passages, the upper edges of which pieces are thickened byfolding as at z" so as to prevent cutting the hands, and which edges arelocated adjacent and extend beneath an opening in the bottom of thehopper so as to afford a support for the material in the hopper as willbe understood from Fig 5. The parallel arrangement of these partitionmembers forces the material to be fed in a certain way to the knives,the present construction being especially adapted for the feeding ofbeans or other products which may be said to have a length, and whichwill pass through the hopper opening down the chute and will be vfedlengthwise to the blades on the shaft which turns in the directionindicated in Fio. 2.

n the underside of the hopper is hung an apron of sheet rubber or othersuitable material, as shown at j, which keeps the contents of the chutefrom escaping. After passing between the rubber roller H and the kniferoller the pieces pass through the opening H into a proper receptacle.

It will be understood that the upper ends of the partition members ofthe chute member I, by reason of the fact that they are locatedimmediately beneath and extend parallel with the opening in the bottomof the hopper C, afford a support for the beans in the hopper andprevent them from passing to the chute member in comparatively largemasses.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

l. In a string bean cutting machine, a hopper' provided with an openingin its bottom; cutting mechanism; an inclined chut-e extending from theopening in the bottom of said hopper to said cutting mechanism; and aseries of vertically arranged partitions carried by said chute andserving to divide the same into a series of longitudinally ext-endingpassages, the upper ends of'said partitions terminating adjacent theopening aforesaid and being of a length sufficient to extend across saidopening to thereby form a support for the material in the hopper.

2. In a string bean cutting machine, a hopper provided with an openingin its bottom; cutting mechanism; an inclined chute pivoted at one endto a fixed support and the free end thereof terminating adjacent saidcutting mechanism and adapted to conduct the beans from said opening tosaid cutting mechanism; means for vibrating the free end of said chute;and a series of vertically arranged partitions carried by said chute andserving to divide the same into a series of longitudinally extendingpassages, the upper ends of said partitions terminating adjacent theopening aforesaid and being of a length sufficient to extend across saidopening to thereby form a support for the material in the hopper.

3. In a string bean cutting machine, a hopper provided with an openingin its bottom; rotary cutting mechanism; an inclined lchute pivoted atone end to said hopper and the free end thereof terminating adjacentsaid cutting mechanism and adapted to con? duct the beans from saidopening to said lcutting mechanism; means driven from said cuttingmechanism for vibrating the free end of said chute; and a series ofvertically arranged partit-ions carried by said chute and serving todivide the same into a series of longitudinally extending passages, theupper ends of said partitions terminating adjacent the'opening aforesaidand being of a length sufficient to extend across said opening tothereby form a support for the material in the hopper.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ZAGHARIAH l?. TOIVNSEND.

Vitnesses E. E. RIsLEY, E. T. DE GIORGI.

